This invention relates to a system and method of binding a perfect bound soft cover book. Typically, such soft cover books comprise a plurality of pages (referred to as a book block) having one edge which is referred to as the spine. The cover is of a suitable cover stock thicker than the pages comprising the book block. The cover has a front cover that overlies the front of the book block, a back cover that overlies the back of the book block, and a center portion spanning across the spine of the book block. A suitable adhesive is applied between the spine of the book block and the inside face of the center portion of the cover. The edges of the pages comprising the book block forming the spine are imbedded in the adhesive which, upon curing, securely adheres the cover to the book block and secures the pages of the book block to one another and to the center portion of the cover thus permitting the book to be opened to any page without the pages coming loose.
In high volume production processes for manufacturing such perfect bound books, specially developed machines jog the pages of the book block so as to insure that the edges of the pages are properly aligned with one another. The adhesive (a suitable hot melt adhesive) is applied to the spine of the book block. The cover (which is usually pre-printed) is wrapped around the front, the spine and the back of the book block and the cover is firmly clamped to the book block proximate the spine such that the center portion of the cover is firmly pressed against the adhesive between the spine of the book block and the inner face of the center portion thereby to properly adhere the cover to the book block and to adhere the pages to one another and to the center portion of the cover. Typically, such perfect bound books are printed on page that is somewhat larger than the desired size of the finished and bound book to be produced. These books, after they are bound, are trimmed along three sides to the desired final dimensions in a separate trimming machine. Heretofore, such operations were carried out in separate machines that required considerable setup to bind books of different sizes and thus were best suited for production runs of many books. In addition, these prior binder/trimmer machines were very expensive.
In recent years, book printing has undergone changes as computer technology and laser printers have advanced. This new technology now allows for on demand printed books. These on demand printed books may come in a variety of formats and thicknesses. This has created a need from an economical binding apparatus and system which is sufficiently flexible to allow on demand printed books of varying size and thickness to be bound and trimmed, even if books of different formats (size) and thickness must be bound one at a time (i.e., with production binding runs consisting of a single book copy), and yet where such binding and trimming operations are fully automated such that a store clerk or attendant need merely feed the printed pages constituting the book block and the printed cover of the book to be bound into the apparatus and a bound, trimmed book is produced in a short tine. In addition, there has been a need for short runs of perfect bound books where the size or format of the book can be readily changed from run to run without the need of undue experimentation or adjustment of the apparatus to produce such different size books.